Prefabricated reinforced concrete structural support panel system for multi-story buildings

ABSTRACT

Prefabricated reinforced stackable concrete panels are provided for forming walls and roofs of multi-story buildings. Each panel has an embedded grid of vertical and horizontal steel rods secured together where they cross. The grid is anchored by brackets welded to a base plate along the bottom of each panel, and to another plate along the top. Leveling means (screw jack devices) are anchored to the top plate. At ground level the base plate of each prefabricated panel is welded to an elongated plate embedded in the concrete foundation. A second story is formed by stacking panels on a floor pan anchored to the leveling means of the first story panels, and a pour of concrete completes the inter-story floor, embedding the leveling means. Successive stories and roof panels may be added and anchored to the stories below in the same manner, creating an exceptionally strong structure of up to six to eight stories, firmly anchored to the foundation by the tying together of the reinforcing grids of the stacked panels. The interconnections of the reinforcement grids, the inter-story floors, roof and foundation create a steel skeleton analogous to the steel skeletons of modern construction of skyscrapers.

The present invention claims the benefit of a previously-filed provisional application, Ser. No. 61/273,804, filed Aug. 10, 2009. This invention relates generally to the field of prefabricated reinforced concrete panels for constructing the walls of multi-story buildings. More particularly, it relates to a stackable, reinforced prefabricated panel, and an assembly of panels providing structural support for inter-story floors and a roof . . . .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prefabricated wall panels for rapid construction of buildings have been known and used for many years. Examples of such panels have been referenced in the Applicant's prior art patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,672 to McClellan which is incorporated herein by reference. The prior McClellan system has very little tolerance for achieving uniform top elevation between panels, which can have slight variations in height. Also, the means of anchoring the panels of that invention to the foundation is on the exterior of the structure, requiring extra finishing to the exterior.

Additional examples include U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,474 to Lawson which discloses reinforced panels wherein the reinforcements within the panels are not affixed to the anchoring system, and does not teach or disclose adjusting means for achieving uniformity of elevation of adjoining panels. U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,754 to Olson does not teach or disclose reinforcing steel passing through or attached to anchoring devices. Also the panels are formed on-site, not factory fabricated. U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,365 to Crockett describes a sandwich-type panel with a foam core which has no structural value. U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,891 to DeCosse discloses a much weaker reinforcement system than the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,900 discloses a prefabricated perimeter wall system composed of sandwich panels with voids supported on pillars poured on site that fit into the voids in the panels. U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,489 to Zweig shows another sandwich wall panel with a foam core, and weak panel-to-panel connections. U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,319 teaches pre-cast corners and precast reinforced elongated wall sections connected at their side edges. Upper story wall sections are tied to the lower story with sheebolts running through corner sections. However it does not teach interconnection of the reinforcing mesh of the upper story to that of the lower story, nor to the foundation.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a prefabricated stackable reinforced concrete panel for constructing the walls of a multi-story building in a manner supporting and accommodating the pouring of inter-story floors and a roof, wherein the reinforcement of the panels ties upper to lower panels together and to anchors in the foundation and inter-story floors for structural integrity resistant to external forces. It is an object of this invention to provide interconnections of the reinforcement grids, the inter-story floors, roof and foundation creates a steel skeleton analogous to the steel skeletons of modern construction of skyscrapers

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Prefabricated reinforced stackable concrete panels are provided for forming walls and roofs of multi-story buildings. Each panel has an embedded grid of vertical and horizontal steel rods secured together where they cross. The grid is anchored by brackets welded to a base plate along the bottom of each panel, and to another plate along the top. Leveling means (screw jack devices) are anchored to the top plate. At ground level the base plate of each prefabricated panel is welded to an elongated plate embedded in the concrete foundation. A second story is formed by stacking panels on a floor pan anchored to the leveling means of the first story panels, and a pour of concrete completes the inter-story floor, embedding the leveling means. Successive stories and roof panels can be added and anchored to the stories below in the same manner, creating an exceptionally strong structure of up to six to eight stories firmly anchored to the foundation by the tying together of the reinforcing grids of the stacked panels. The interconnections of the reinforcement grids, the inter-story floors, roof and foundation create a steel skeleton analogous to the steel skeletons of modern construction of skyscrapers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a vertical wall panel and an inter-story floor sub-system of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stack of two wall panels with a cutaway view of the inter-story floor sub-system of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of leveling adjustment and anchoring elements embedded in the panels of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of reinforcement elements embedded in the panels of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the reinforcement grid and elements depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of an alternative leveling adjustment elements to FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the roofing sub-system over the uppermost wall panel of a structure according to this invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the top plate assembly for the roofing sub-system of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the system of this invention employing truss-supported wood flooring;

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of the system of this invention employing pre-cast hollow-core concrete floor slabs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, a detailed description of the best mode and preferred embodiment of the instant invention ensues. It should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be construed as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching a person skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in an appropriate structure.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 8, the invention is a system of constructing a multi-story building using a multiplicity of stacked components including prefabricated concrete structural wall panels 1 as the vertical supports, inter-story floor subsystem 18 and a roofing subsystem 19. Each concrete panel 1 is manufactured off-site; it has an embedded grid of vertical and horizontal steel reinforcing rods (rebar) 6, a steel base plate 2 at its bottom edge, an upper steel plate 20 at the top edge, and brackets 12 attached to plates 2 and 20 having apertures 14 through which rebar rods 6 are threaded. Leveling nuts 13 welded to plate 20, for receiving leveling adjusting screws 4, have corresponding holes 7 through plate 20 and into the concrete of panels 1 to allow screws 4 to advance downward. Nuts 13, plates 20, and screws 4, are essentially components of screw jacks.

Screws 4 are each welded to the underside of leveling support plates 5. These plates also have embedding studs 16 welded on the underside, which serve to anchor the support plates 5 in the reinforced concrete floor sub-system 18 when it is poured onsite. The plates 5 should be spaced optimally no more than five feet (5′) apart. Their purpose is to achieve, for each story of the structure, the same elevation around the perimeter defined by plates 2 of panels 1, by rotation clockwise or counterclockwise into or out from the adjusting nuts 13, depending on whether the plate 5 needs to be raised or lowered. Once support plates 5 have been appropriately adjusted, the floor sub-system 18 can be installed on-site, and another story of panels 1 can be stacked on top of plates 5. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the top of concrete floor system 18 is at the same elevation as the top surface of plates 5. The elements 4 and 16 become embedded in the concrete of 18.

At the ground level, the base plate 2 of panel 1 is welded onto a co-extensive with studded steel plate 10 embedded in a reinforced concrete foundation 11, poured on site. Brackets 12 are welded to the upper surface of plate 2 and have apertures 14 for rebar rods 6, as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Brackets 12 can be provided with double apertures to allow the use of additional horizontal rebar rods 6 at the top and bottom of panel 1. These brackets serve to anchor the rebar rods 6 within the concrete panel 1.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the inter-story floor subsystem 18 is comprised of a corrugated steel floor pan 8, a grid of rebar rods 6, studded leveling adjustment plates 5 and screws 4, and a concrete floor 9 poured on site into pan 8, thereby embedding members 4, 5 and 6. As referenced above, before pouring the concrete, the adjustment plates 5 and screws 4 are used to achieve a precise floor level to receive the next level panel 1, its plate 2 to be welded to plate 5. This process of stacking panels 1 and intra-story floor subsystems 18 is repeated for as many levels as the structure requires.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative means to the co-extensive with steel plate 20 atop panel 1. Non-co-extensive with brackets 3 have nuts 13 welded to their upper surfaces and these brackets 3 are spaced across the top of panel 1 so that nuts 13 mate with the leveling screws 4 attached to leveling plates 5. As seen in FIG. 6, brackets, either 3 or 12, supporting rebar rods 6, could have either one or two apertures 15 for rebar rods 6 to pass through.

A second embodiment of this invention is designed to incorporate an inter-story floor subsystem 26 made of trussed wood, as shown in FIG. 9. A wood ledger 27 secured to panel 1 with through-bolt 28, spaced a little below the top plate 20 of panel 1. The next story panel 1 is then welded directly to the panel 1 below.

A third embodiment of this invention is depicted in FIG. 10. It is designed to incorporate a precast concrete floor system, such as hollow core slabs 30. Slabs 30 are set on top of steel plate 20, the next story wall panel 1 is then welded to the leveling plate 5, and then a concrete topping 31 is placed over the slabs 30.

The roofing subsystem 19 comprises a top plate assembly 23 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 . . . . Top story wall panel 1 with co-extensive with steel plate 20 has leveling nuts 13 to receive leveling screws 4 which are welded to horizontal brackets 32 with apertures 15 for rebar rods 6. A corrugated steel pan 25 is placed on plate 20, rebar rods 6 are installed, leveling screws 4 are adjusted to an appropriate level, and additional horizontal rebar rods 6 are placed perpendicular to those threaded through apertures 15 to form a horizontal grid. Lastly, a layer of light-weight concrete 21 finishes the roofing subsystem 19, appropriately sloped to facilitate rainwater runoff. This layer is poured on site.

It can be seen that because the reinforcing grids anchored within each panel are tied together by the brackets welded to top and bottom plates and the leveling plates, are anchored in place to the plate embedded in the foundation, to the floor pans between the stories and to the roof, there is no need for side-by-side fastening of adjoining panels. Fire grout in the side seams between the panels will seal them well enough.

In a prefabricated concrete panel, in the shape of a rectangular prism, having a top horizontal face and a bottom horizontal face, having a grid of embedded horizontal and vertical reinforcing rods, plus an assembly of like panels for forming walls and roofs of buildings, anchored to a reinforced concrete foundation, an improvement comprising: 

1. A panel having anchoring means for tying said grid of embedded reinforcing rods of a first such panel to the grid of embedded reinforcing rods of a like panel stacked upon the first such panel.
 2. The improved panel of claim 1, wherein the top horizontal face of each panel has means for adjusting level, spaced apart on and along said face, whereby a second said panel placed atop said means may be squared with respect to said first panel.
 3. The improved panel of claim 2, wherein said means for adjusting level comprises a plurality of essentially square plates, each plate having an under surface, an adjusting screw affixed to said under surface, and a threaded nut affixed to said upper horizontal face for mating with said adjusting screw, whereby each plate may be raised or lowered by rotating it and its affixed screw clockwise or counterclockwise.
 4. The improved panel of claim 3 wherein each panel has a top plate co-extensive with said top horizontal face, said top plate having an underside; and a bottom plate having an upper side along its bottom horizontal face, and said anchoring means comprises a plurality of brackets welded to the underside of the top plate and to the upper side of the bottom plate, said brackets having eyelets through which horizontal reinforcing rods may be threaded and affixed to the brackets, and wherein said bottom plate is permanently affixed to a co-extensive with studded plate embedded in a reinforced concrete foundation
 5. An improved panel wherein each panel has a top plate affixed atop said upper horizontal face, said top plate having an underside, and a bottom plate affixed under its bottom horizontal face, said bottom plate having an upper side, said panel comprising: a plurality of brackets welded to the underside of the top plate and to the upper side of the bottom plate, said brackets having eyelets through which horizontal reinforcing rods may be threaded and affixed to the brackets; said bottom plate capable of being anchored to a foundation for a building, or to the top plate of a lower like panel, by permanently affixing it to a studded steel plate embedded in a reinforced concrete foundation, or to the top plate of a lower like panel; Adjustable means for supporting a like panel stacked upon said improved panel, comprising a plurality of screw jacks, whereby each adjustable means may be raised or lowered by rotating it clockwise or counterclockwise.
 6. The combination of a first panel and a like panel connected in a stack to form a structural component of a multi-story building; said first panel being an improvement of a prefabricated concrete panel, in the shape of a rectangular prism, having a top horizontal face and a bottom horizontal face, having a grid of embedded horizontal and vertical reinforcing rods, the improvement comprising: Anchoring means for tying said grid of embedded reinforcing rods of the first such panel to the grid of embedded reinforcing rods of a like panel stacked atop the first such panel . . . .
 7. The combination of claim 6, wherein the top horizontal face of a first panel has adjustable means for supporting a like panel on the first panel, spaced apart on and along said face, whereby the like panel placed atop said means may be squared with respect to said first panel.
 8. The combination of claim 7, wherein said means for adjusting level comprises a plurality of screw jacks, whereby said like panel may be raised or lowered by rotating said screw jacks clockwise or counterclockwise.
 9. The combination of claim 8 wherein each panel has a top plate co-extensive with its upper horizontal face, said top plate having an underside, and a bottom plate co-extensive with its bottom horizontal face, said bottom plate having an upper side, and said anchoring means comprises a plurality of brackets welded to the underside of the top plate and to the upper side of the bottom plate, said brackets having eyelets through which horizontal reinforcing rods may be threaded and affixed to the brackets, and wherein said bottom plate is permanently affixed to a studded plate embedded in a reinforced concrete foundation.
 10. (canceled) 